Sleepless
by Naeryn
Summary: Konoka and Setsuna have both graduated Mahora Academy. Both find themselves incredibly lonely, but perhaps they're closer together than they think! KonoSetsu, fluff. Rated conservatively for an intense kissing scene.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Negima, by that name or any other. I do, however, have an undeniably geeky obsession with it.

Author's Note: This is a shoujo-ai story (big surprise!) so don't read it if that offends you. I'm a junkie for positive feedback, so even though this story's finished, I'd love to get your thoughts on it! It's set post-story and is utter fluff. Enjoy!

Ю

The sun just peeked out from over the trees, colouring the earth and the old-fashioned Japanese buildings a tawny golden. The buildings sprawled lazily over one acre of the large property that was both a great temple and Konoe Konoka's family home. The small outbuilding that had effectively become her private quarters, since her return to Kyoto after her graduation from Mahora Academy, stood on the edge of a cliff. The front porch faced out into the open sky, the very tips of the trees below still a good hundred feet below the edge. A few steps at the side of the porch opened onto a path that led up towards the temple main. It was down this path that Konoka came, reaching up to pull the tie out of her hair. The brown tresses, released, fell around her to her thighs. It got in the way, but when not in training, Konoka greatly preferred to keep her hair loose.

With a tired sigh, she crossed the porch and stepped inside, but only for a moment. When she came back out, she wore simple jeans and a comfortable halter. The formal temple dress lay in a heap on the small chair by the door; she would deal with them later, feeling herself disinclined to raise even the slightest effort. Stepping forward, she rested her elbows on the railing that kept her from the cliff-edge.

Konoka puffed up her bangs. She loved her training, becoming more powerful, feeling the energy that she'd known for a few years now was locked inside her be released. To be in control of that power was an intoxicating feeling. She smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes – not that anyone was there to see if she smiled or not. That was the truth of it, after all, wasn't it? After years of at least moderate popularity at school, Konoka found herself entirely alone. She missed her classmates.

No, that wasn't really right either. Truth be told, she missed Asakura-san, and Yue-san, and Ku Fei-san, and Ayaka-san, and all the rest, and she especially missed Asuna-chan and Negi-kun… but there was only one classmate that she found herself thinking of regularly. _Be honest, Konoka, at least with yourself. You think about Secchan all the time._ It was even more frustrating, she found, because she knew that Setsuna was on the temple property, not so far away, she just didn't know where. Her father wouldn't tell her, convinced that it would distract her from her studies, and until a month and a half ago, she hadn't even known she was coming back here. She hadn't spoken to Secchan in two months, so she doubted that she even knew that Konoka was here.

She stepped back, leaning haphazardly against the wall of her home. Closing her eyes, she sought out her friend with her heart. _Secchan, if you're anywhere nearby, please come see me… somehow. I miss you…_She stood like that for some time, eyes squeezed tightly shut. She struggled to keep her breathing even, using the meditation techniques she'd been learning to force her mind into quietness and emptiness, except for her one wish. _Secchan, I miss you… come find me._

"Come find me, Secchan." She whispered the words quietly to herself before she opened her eyes and looked half-hopefully up the empty path. She couldn't be terribly disappointed; after all, she hadn't really expected anything. "Oh well. I guess it didn't work." She shrugged and turned to go inside. She should hang her robe; if she left it too long, it would get wrinkled.

Ж

Exhausted, Sakurazaki Setsuna leant her sword, carefully encased in its sheath, in the corner, up against the wall. She was glad that she had the seniority to warrant a room of her own, small and Spartan though it was; she didn't like the idea of sleeping in the main room with the other, lower-ranking swordsmen and –women employed by the temple. She didn't trust them with her sword. Yuunagi had pulled her through more near scrapes and near misses than she could count, and not just anyone could be entrusted with his safekeeping. In memory, there were only three people she'd ever entrusted him to, and all in extreme circumstances.

She grumbled briefly, throwing herself down on the futon that was tucked into one corner of the room. She had almost achieved mastery of her school by the time she'd graduated Mahora Academy, and then she was called back here, and she didn't even know why. She trained exhaustively every day, both herself and anyone of a lower rank or level in the Shinmei school than she that would come to her; she kept herself in prime condition, as instructed, but she couldn't understand why she was even here. There were fifty other strong, good fighters already here, should there be any need. Even if she had near mastery of her art, what good would one more warrior do, if the situation were desperate enough to need a master anyway?

Her original intention, after graduating, had been to follow Konoka to whatever school she went to, but, then, the last time that the two of them had talked had been a little over two months ago, and she still hadn't heard back. She'd promised to call Setsuna when she heard, but she never had. Of course, they'd both been quite busy, and two weeks later she'd been hauled back to Kyoto. She didn't really have any contact with the outside world at all here, and hadn't spoken to any of her old classmates in the last month and a half.

She was a solitary creature by nature, and didn't really resent the separation, but there were a few of her fellow graduates she'd have liked to keep in touch with. She'd become quite close with Asuna-san over the last couple of years, and she'd always gotten along with Mana-chan and Kaede-san. She sighed. _Oh give it up, Setsuna. You know the only one that you really miss is Kono-chan. Oh, you could do with seeing the others, for sure, but not seeing Konoka in two months…_ She sighed, closing her eyes. _Kono-chan…I love you, Kono-chan… _The need to see her was almost overwhelming, and Setsuna sunk her teeth into her lip to keep the tears she felt behind her eyes from welling up and spilling over. She would not allow herself to cry, under any circumstances. No weakness of that sort could be afforded.

She hauled herself up in one motion, stripping off her clothes and letting them fall where they would, uncaring. She would pick them up and toss them in the hamper later; in the meantime, it was her room, so who cared? She stepped into the tiny adjoining bathroom and cranked the water on her western-style shower. She stepped inside and braced her hands against the cool tile in front of her. Her head dropped; she was too tired and the weight of her loneliness made it too difficult to keep it up. After a moment, Setsuna straightened and began to wash the sweat and grime from her body, forcing thoughts of her lost friend out of her head. There was nothing she could do about it anyway, she had no idea where Konoka was.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Negima, or the song 'Sleepless' by Jann Arden. In fact, I'm pretty sure that last one's owned by Jann Arden; go figure.

Ω

The papers in front of him jumbled together with a light pass of Eishun's large hand. He pulled off his glasses and tossed them on the pile, pinching the bridge of his nose with his other hand. He could feel a migraine coming on, and it annoyed him. He only ever got migraines when he was focusing too intently on something, worrying himself to death over it, and it wasn't something he enjoyed doing.

Yet, he couldn't help but wonder. He still felt it best that Konoka study magic under his own tutelage, so that he could train her to take over for him one day at the same time, and he knew that he wanted Sakurazaki-san to be close at hand, for he could think of no one more trustworthy for his daughter's safekeeping, but he wasn't entirely certain that it was best to keep them apart anymore.

Every day his daughter grew more gloomy and depressed, and every day Sakurazaki's efforts in her training redoubled, and he wasn't certain he wasn't doing more harm than good by keeping them apart. He felt the strength of the tie between them, and feared he had made a grievous mistake. His intentions had been honourable, definitely, but perhaps it was time to change that.

He sighed, hoping that neither his daughter nor his young charge would be too terribly upset with him. He scooped his glasses back up onto his face and stepped quietly out of his office, waving down the nearest servant.

The young woman knelt and bowed, looking up at Eishun with a warm smile. He couldn't help but smile back, despite his headache – he was ever glad that the people he employed and that served at the temple looked on him with such fondness; if they'd hated him, it would have made his life exceedingly difficult. "Yoriko-chan, would you fetch Sakurazaki-san for me? I've a small matter to discuss with her."

The girl nodded and scurried off as he slipped back into his office and settled himself, preparing for the storm.

Ж

_She's here. She's a five minute walk down that path, probably eating dinner, right now._ Setsuna sat on a tree stump at the head of the path to Konoka's house, a few feet from the back door of the main temple building. Ahead of her, trees grew in closer to the path, shading it a deep green. In a few minutes it would be completely black and impossible to see, and she wouldn't be able to see Konoka until the next day. Could she bear that? But then, could she see Konoka now, without so much as ten minutes to prepare?

She smiled softly. What was the point in waiting? During their school years, Konoka had seen her in virtually every possible state of dress and undress, did it matter if she put on makeup or wore pretty clothes? She sighed and stood, smoothing her hands over the loose pants and shirt she usually wore for training. With a trembling breath, Setsuna turned and strode down the path, far more confidently than she felt.

Φ

The tapping at the door confused Konoka immensely. Her father would just walk in, and who else would be coming to call, especially now that the sun was virtually set? She left the dishes half cleaned and walked to the door, dropping the drying cloth on the chair by the door as she went.

She pulled open the door and froze. "S-Secchan?" Konoka gaped in confusion, certain she had to be dreaming. She reached over and pinched her arm, winced, and her eyes went wide. She snapped her mouth shut in shock.

"Hello, Kono-chan." Setsuna smiled, the colour rising in her cheeks. A moment passed, and then Konoka had her arms around her, hugging her tightly.

"Secchan, come inside! What are you doing here? How did you get here?" Konoka's features were aglow with happiness as she pulled her friend inside. "How did you know I was here? I never had a chance to tell you where I was going!"

_Take your coat and shoes off  
Come and sit beside me  
We could talk for hours  
Or we could just do nothing_

Setsuna found herself being dragged, though not unwilling, into Konoka's living room and pushed down onto the couch. Konoka herself then plunked down beside her, waiting intently for a response to any of the questions she'd asked.

"Your father didn't see fit until tonight to tell me that you were here." She looked down, cursing her complexion as the colour in her face deepened, then darkened, into an intense red. "I… Kono-chan, I…" She swallowed hard and looked up into the intently listening face of her best friend, willing herself to take the plunge. "I don't want to ruin anything between us, but I have to tell you…"

Immediately Konoka's expression shifted and remolded itself into one of curiosity and worry. "What is it, Secchan?" She forced a smile to her lips, willing herself to look unconcerned. "You know that there's nothing you could say to make me not want to be friends with you, right?"

Reassured, Setsuna returned Konoka's smile. "Yeah, Kono-chan. I just…" She closed her eyes and jumped. "I love you."

_Four billion people surround us  
So many souls lose their way  
All that we have is each other  
And that's all I ever wanted  
Yeah, yeah_

If her eyes had been open, perhaps she would have seen the momentary shock before Konoka carefully collected herself enough to push down the emotion that had suddenly boiled to the surface. _There's no way she means that, baka!_ She told herself, willing herself to believe that Setsuna could not possibly have meant romantic love. She pulled on her smile-mask again. "Of course, Secchan. I love you too!"

Setsuna looked a little taken aback at that. She shook her head and bowed it again, her face still such a powerful red that Konoka felt a moment's concern that she might lose blood circulation to the rest of her body. "No, Kono-chan, I mean… I love you. I'm… in love with you." She bit her lip and turned away a little, waiting for Konoka's inevitable distress.

"S-Secchan?"

Setsuna turned back and looked at Konoka's neck with an expression of curiosity, forcing herself to look nonchalant, like she didn't really care what Konoka's answer was.

"S-Secchan…"

Pulling her eyes up to Konoka's, Setsuna felt her heart stop for a second.

_Don't you think it's funny  
Tell me what the point is  
We could die tomorrow  
Might as well enjoy this_

Konoka wore the brightest, most radiant smile she had ever seen. Her eyes shone with tears, but beneath that, Setsuna saw something words could never say being expressed through them. "S-Secchan…" She sniffed a little and reached tentatively for Setsuna's cheek. She couldn't believe it – Secchan, her Secchan, loved her? The same way that Konoka had loved her ever since she'd tried to save her from the river. "I…" She choked on the words, or maybe the tears that seemed to fill her to bursting. "I love you too, Secchan." She let her hand come to rest on Setsuna's face, and then her willpower broke.

Neither young woman was really sure, afterwards, who started the kiss. All either of them knew was that they were sitting on the couch, and then their legs were tangled together, and hot lips pressed together in a searingly passionate kiss that had been too long awaited.

_Four billion people surround us  
So many souls lose their way  
All that we have is each other  
And that's all I ever wanted  
Yeah, yeah_

All Konoka was aware of for some time was the sensation of Setsuna's mouth against hers, warm and wet, and her tongue gently teasing it's way between Konoka's lips. She opened them willingly, giving in to the sheer ecstasy of the kiss she'd dreamt of as long as she'd had any thought of kisses at all. She was dimly aware of Setsuna's breasts pressing, hard and firm, against her own; the warmth of the other woman's body pressed as close against hers as they could get without unclothing themselves.

She moaned quietly into the kiss, making Setsuna's heart race. She felt Konoka's arms wrap around her, fingertips gently caressing her shoulderblades. A shiver ran down Setsuna's spine as she pulled away a little, enough to look Konoka in the eyes. "I love you, Kono-chan." She smiled broadly. "I love you."

_Give me all your disappointments  
I'll give you my secrets  
We could lay our heads down  
Or be forever sleepless_

Konoka and Setsuna sat on the couch, watching the fire play in the hearth. With a contented smile, Konoka shifted around and lay with her head on Setsuna's breast, closing her eyes. "Are you tired, Secchan?" One hand toyed with the hem of Setsuna's shirt.

Wrapping one arm tightly around Konoka's shoulders, Setsuna shook her head. "Not really, Kono-chan. Why, do you want to go to bed? I can go home now, if you want me to, I don't mind…"

Konoka shook her head vehemently. "No, Secchan. I want to stay here, like this. And I want you to stay tonight." She smiled and nuzzled her cheek against Setsuna's chest, pulling herself as close as she could. "Tomorrow, I want to go talk to Daddy and see if he minds if you move in here. I mean…" She paused, a little sheepishly. "If you want."

"I would love to, Kono-chan. Koibito."

_Four billion people surround us  
So many souls lose their way  
All that we have is each other  
And that's all I ever wanted  
Yeah, yeah, yeah_

**~FIN~**_  
_


End file.
